Is AT&T stealing your data?

[dolphins66]

Here's a thought. AT&T allows us to rollover unused minutes from our calling plan. How about we get to rollover unused data? Let's see, if I used 100 MB on the 200 MB plan 2 months in a row, I'd have 400 MB for the 3rd month. AND, here is another idea. While you're sleeping, why not put your Captivate to sleep and shut it off while it's charging? Does it REALLY need to be on while you're sleeping? REALLY!!

 

[wampro]

You should read more carefully. I never said I didnt want to surf on the phone. I have wi-fi at work, at home, and 3 different friends houses. I dont use the data. And as far as the air conditioner? Thats just lame. People already know ahead of time that using air uses more gas. What everyone DOESNT know is that these phones use data "behind the scenes"... There is a huge difference, but you still get an "A" for effort.

Ok, first of all, I could say that people already know smart phones use data behind the scenes too. It's common knowledge. That being said I'm going to tell you how you can avoid all of your data charges from here on out. Not because I like you, and certainly not because I agree with you. Because I am tired of listening to you wine about your lack of personal responsibility I am going to give you this tip.

Call customer service from your handset, ask to speak to customer retention. You may have to be persistent but eventually you will get them. Tell them that you would like to have a smartphone exclusion put on your phone or you're going to go to verizon. Tell them that you feel at&t is wrongfully sneaking into your phone in the middle of the night and stealing your data and you no longer want your phone to connect to the mobile data network. Once they put that block on your phone you will never be able to access the 3g or the edge network on your phone and you will not have to pay the data fee either. However, you will not be able to send or receive picture or video messages and your instant messenger will not work either. Those apps and features require the data side of the network. Then you will only be able to surf using wifi. Happy? Now go away!

 

[Evil Joker]

you forgot... you are in my thread. But thanks...


By the way, BBB sent me an email with AT&Ts response saying that the apps can be removed. NONE of the default apps can be removed. Why did they lie?

 

[Endoran]

Wow. This escalated quickly.

 

[Phateless]

That is not the reason the unlimited data was removed. The reason it was eliminated is so people that are smart enough to use wifi don't have to pay the same as people that refuse to use wifi and tie up the network. 98% of all at&t customers do not go near the 2gb threshold. For those exceeding the 2gb threshold another gb is added for $10. That would make the bill for the month $35 for data which is only $5 more than the unlimited data was. At&t is not getting rich off that because people aren't exceeding their threshold, they're using wifi. It also allows stay at home moms to use their wifi and the $15 data plan, so they can get a smart phone and not have to pay the same as some like me who uses their phone constantly.

That's the way they position this move to the public but I guarantee you they didn't do this for the benefit of the consumer. They did this for self-protective reasons.

NEW CUSTOMER PRICE POINT:
Most carriers offer unlimited data at $30/month, including AT&T in the past. Now they can advertise data starting at $15/month or whatever it is to attract new business.

NETWORK CONGESTION:
By limiting data consumption they encourage their existing customers to switch to wifi instead of 3G, thus alleviating the network traffic that has made their service crappy for the last couple of years, saving AT&T money and urgency of expanding their network.

EXISTING CUSTOMER RETENTION:
Because of aforementioned crappy service, new customers are avoiding AT&T like the plague and existing customers are changing over to other carriers, especially now that Android phones can seriously compete with the iphone. If AT&T can lower their rate for data AND make the network more reliable they stand a better chance at keeping them.

Basically AT&T sold a SHITLOAD of iphones and they didn't expand their network enough to handle all the traffic and now they're bogged down with users. Honestly to me it looks like they're in damage-control mode.

Public Relations spin and internal reasons for action are rarely the same.

 

[Demache]

Why is this even an issue? If you don't want your phone using data, do this:

Its in your wireless settings. If you leave your data connection on, you ARE basically saying "its okay to use data". Just turn it off if you don't want it to use data. Enable it when you do. Pretty simple, case closed.

 

[Evil Joker]

Its my fault. I automatically assume the businesses that I do business with are honest. This is my first smart phone, and I did not know that they use up data without your permission. The whole thing seems shady. Why not tell customers about this? Its not that hard to say, "by the way, you dont actually get a whole 200MB because we use some of that ourselves"... We, as consumers, should be able to trust the companies that we give our money to, and not find hidden BS along the way. Cell companies already got in trouble before for shady practices. Even then alot of customers blew it off, maybe because they like taking it in the rear, who knows.

 

[Evil Joker]

Why is this even an issue? If you don't want your phone using data, do this:

Its in your wireless settings. If you leave your data connection on, you ARE basically saying "its okay to use data". Just turn it off if you don't want it to use data. Enable it when you do. Pretty simple, case closed.

I dont think that is on mine.

 

[wampro]

That's the way they position this move to the public but I guarantee you they didn't do this for the benefit of the consumer. They did this for self-protective reasons.

NEW CUSTOMER PRICE POINT:
Most carriers offer unlimited data at $30/month, including AT&T in the past. Now they can advertise data starting at $15/month or whatever it is to attract new business.

NETWORK CONGESTION:
By limiting data consumption they encourage their existing customers to switch to wifi instead of 3G, thus alleviating the network traffic that has made their service crappy for the last couple of years, saving AT&T money and urgency of expanding their network.

EXISTING CUSTOMER RETENTION:
Because of aforementioned crappy service, new customers are avoiding AT&T like the plague and existing customers are changing over to other carriers, especially now that Android phones can seriously compete with the iphone. If AT&T can lower their rate for data AND make the network more reliable they stand a better chance at keeping them.

Basically AT&T sold a SHITLOAD of iphones and they didn't expand their network enough to handle all the traffic and now they're bogged down with users. Honestly to me it looks like they're in damage-control mode.

Public Relations spin and internal reasons for action are rarely the same.

First of all you have no idea what you are talking about, Do you know what churn means? Do you have any idea how low at&t's is? Let me tell you, churn is the industry term for customers leaving for other networks. At&t is in a virtual tie for the industry lead in low churn. That means people are not leaving at&t. Secondly, at&t spent $460 billion on their network, their network is the fastest network in the nation, number one in connection reliability. The only place that at&t has had any network problems due to the iphone is San Fran and New York City. At&t is in the process of turning those city into wifi hot spots. That means its customers will be able to connect to data networks for free in those two cities, with no limits on usage. If you have a smart phone and you never leave NYC you would never have to use the 3g network and you could have unlimited data for $15 a month! Hmmm, if a company wanted to screw their customers and charge them overages do you think they would build gigantic free wifi hotspots which all of their customers can connect to?

Oh and before you start spouting idiot iphone customer complaints or verizon tv commercials as a rebuttal to my statements about the network, do your own research and read the PC magazine article where they tested nationwide network speeds and reliability. At&t was number one almost doubling verizon in network speeds. If at&t has a crappy network, what does that say about everyone elses?

 

[wampro]

Its my fault. I automatically assume the businesses that I do business with are honest. This is my first smart phone, and I did not know that they use up data without your permission. The whole thing seems shady. Why not tell customers about this? Its not that hard to say, "by the way, you dont actually get a whole 200MB because we use some of that ourselves"... We, as consumers, should be able to trust the companies that we give our money to, and not find hidden BS along the way. Cell companies already got in trouble before for shady practices. Even then alot of customers blew it off, maybe because they like taking it in the rear, who knows.

I agree with you that it is your fault for not researching a product before you purchase it. But you do have a few things wrong in your assessment, you do get the whole 200MB, it's not at&t using your data, it's your phone using your data. As for disclosure, I believe I read a post by you where you were chatting with a customer service rep and she told you that you had to have data because the phone does automatic updates on the network. Did I miss read that, or did you fail to read your own post? How much clearer can it be then that? Maybe the rep should have said, "Sir you are required to have a data plan because your phone will do automatice updates from time to time, what that means is YOUR PHONE IS GOING TO BE USING DATA." However I am glad that you have finally started to take some personal responsibility for your own actions.

 

[Evil Joker]

I agree with you that it is your fault for not researching a product before you purchase it. But you do have a few things wrong in your assessment, you do get the whole 200MB, it's not at&t using your data, it's your phone using your data. As for disclosure, I believe I read a post by you where you were chatting with a customer service rep and she told you that you had to have data because the phone does automatic updates on the network. Did I miss read that, or did you fail to read your own post? How much clearer can it be then that? Maybe the rep should have said, "Sir you are required to have a data plan because your phone will do automatice updates from time to time, what that means is YOUR PHONE IS GOING TO BE USING DATA." However I am glad that you have finally started to take some personal responsibility for your own actions.

that was moronic... She states that you do not need data for updates. The updates can be done through wi-fi... you need hooked on phonics? AND, AT&T has been ranked last in all the wireless carriers the last 3 years in a row for customer service by consumer reports.

 

[uzetaab]

that was moronic... She states that you do not need data for updates. The updates can be done through wi-fi... you need hooked on phonics? AND, AT&T has been ranked last in all the wireless carriers the last 3 years in a row for customer service by consumer reports.

Why does it have to get personal?

Exactly. When the phone is on wifi, it does get the updates from there. Turning off mobile data will mean you only get those updates when you're on wifi.

I don't really see how that is relevant. The data works the same way on all network carriers with smart phones.

Phonics? What do you mean?

I don't really see how this is a legitimate complaint; as much as I would like it to be. It IS common knowledge that smart phones use data all the time for updates. It is also possible to disable this functionality on android phones, which makes it the user's responsibility to control their data use. Although I wonder whether the same can be said for all phones?

Anyway, a far better class action lawsuit would be about the apps that they install that we can not remove without voiding our warranties. Those apps use up physical resources that we could make better use of. Not that I think that this could be made to stick in a court.

 

[reallyBasic]

I've looked back through my data usage for the past few weeks and found that my phone DOES NOT currently have these phantom data transfers in the middle of the night. However, it used to. The phantom data usage stopped when I changed from a family plan with two iPhones to an individual plan.

Full disclosure: I currently have a jail broken iPhone with iOS v4.1 and the grandfathered unlimited data plan. My phone stays on all night while connected to the charger.

 

[Phateless]

First of all you have no idea what you are talking about, Do you know what churn means? Do you have any idea how low at&t's is? Let me tell you, churn is the industry term for customers leaving for other networks. At&t is in a virtual tie for the industry lead in low churn. That means people are not leaving at&t. Secondly, at&t spent $460 billion on their network, their network is the fastest network in the nation, number one in connection reliability. The only place that at&t has had any network problems due to the iphone is San Fran and New York City. At&t is in the process of turning those city into wifi hot spots. That means its customers will be able to connect to data networks for free in those two cities, with no limits on usage. If you have a smart phone and you never leave NYC you would never have to use the 3g network and you could have unlimited data for $15 a month! Hmmm, if a company wanted to screw their customers and charge them overages do you think they would build gigantic free wifi hotspots which all of their customers can connect to?

Oh and before you start spouting idiot iphone customer complaints or verizon tv commercials as a rebuttal to my statements about the network, do your own research and read the PC magazine article where they tested nationwide network speeds and reliability. At&t was number one almost doubling verizon in network speeds. If at&t has a crappy network, what does that say about everyone elses?

lol, that makes sense. I live in San Francisco. Oakland actually, but it's only 15 mins away.

Interesting point about those two articles, I had no idea! All I know are all my friends on AT&T who are constantly complaining, dropping calls, etc. Meanwhile my T-mo has been great.

For me, AT&T's service does suck because I live in the Bay Area, but I had no idea how well they were doing in the rest of the country.

When my gf and I visited San Luis Obispo for the weekend (halfway between LA and the Bay Area) we were both FLOORED at how fast the 3G is down there. It was WAY faster than the hotel wifi, absolutely unreal! We chalked it up to network traffic in the Bay Area.

 

[Eyetattoo]

It should be an easy fix. AT&T and other services send you text messages that do not go against your plan. It should be just as easy to do the same for data usage. What they are doing now is wrong anyway you look at it, their hope is that the masses either don't notice or just think its okay and just part of owning a smartphone.

 

[ZDroid1]

The thing that has always bothered me the most is that we are forced to have a data plan. It is not impossible for them to simply disable data access for those who don't want it.

All their claims about the phone needing data access are pure BS.

 

[clutchy]

you guys are bat$hit crazy if you think you can get away w/ 200megs of data per month on an android smartphone w/o taking substantial steps to prevent usage...

 

[clutchy]

The thing that has always bothered me the most is that we are forced to have a data plan. It is not impossible for them to simply disable data access for those who don't want it.

All their claims about the phone needing data access are pure BS.

buy a nexus one or go buy your own smartphone for $600... it's not difficult. You buy their stuff and you have to play by their rules.

go make your own rules and don't get tied into contracts.

 

[alextop30]

It seems AT&T never misses a chance to dissappoint. That company seems to baced on a bunch of cheating and lying to their customers oh without providing any customer service what so ever. I am not surprised at all they lowered the prices on the mobile internet but that does not mean they will be taking profit cuts they will make that off of people who are on the cape plans who will pay for ovareges whih they did not make. I am so glad I switched from AT&T TO SPRINT

 

[Evil Joker]

It should be an easy fix. AT&T and other services send you text messages that do not go against your plan. It should be just as easy to do the same for data usage. What they are doing now is wrong anyway you look at it, their hope is that the masses either don't notice or just think its okay and just part of owning a smartphone.

I agree

All their claims about the phone needing data access are pure BS.

especially updates for apps I dont use. And how often are there updates for the phone itself anyways. I can check for those manually when I have wi-fi access.

These phones should have a setting for only using data when wi-fi is available.

UPDATE... The FCC called me Monday to notify that the complaint WAS valid, and they are going to investigate.

 

[Evil Joker]

I have also bought Juice Defender and I am trying out. Kinda hard to get use to because there are NO instructions. Trying to figure out how to only use data when wi-fi is available and leave wi-fi on all the time.

 

[Xyro]

I have also bought Juice Defender and I am trying out. Kinda hard to get use to because there are NO instructions. Trying to figure out how to only use data when wi-fi is available and leave wi-fi on all the time.

In theory you should be able to leave WiFi enabled and turn the location option on. That way JD will only enable WiFi when within a certain distance of known WiFi networks.

I don't know how accurate it is at determining that though. I just stuck a WiFI toggle switch on my homescreen so that I can override JD when away from any wifi hotspots.